Bangladesh
Bangladesh (/ˌbæŋɡləˈdɛʃ, ˌbɑːŋ-/; Bengali: বাংলাদেশ 'Bangladesh' ˈbaŋladeʃ (listen), lit. "The country of Bengal"), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh (গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ 'Gônoprojatontri Bangladesh'), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's 8th-most populous country with nearly 163 million people,67 and is the 92nd-largest country in land area, spanning 147,570 square kilometres (56,980 sq mi), making it one of the most densely-populated countries in the world. Bangladesh shares land borders with India to the west, north, and east, Myanmar to the southeast, and the Bay of Bengal to the south. It is narrowly separated from Nepal and Bhutan by India's Siliguri Corridor in the north and from China by the Indian state of Sikkim in the northeast. Dhaka, the capital and largest city, is the nation's economic, political and cultural hub. Chittagong, the largest sea port, is the second largest city. The dominant geographic feature is the Ganges delta, which empties into the Bay of Bengal the combined waters of several river systems, including the Brahmaputra and the Ganges, with numerous criss-crossing rivers and inland waterways. Highlands with evergreen forests cover the northeastern and southeastern regions. The seacoast features the longest natural sea beach and most of the world's largest mangrove forest. The country's biodiversity includes a vast array of plants and wildlife, including the endangered Bengal tiger, the national animal. Bangladesh forms the largest and eastern part of the Bengal region.12 According to the ancient Indian epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, the Vanga Kingdom, one of the namesakes of the Bengal region, was a strong naval ally of the legendary Ayodhya. In the ancient and classical period of the Indian subcontinent, the territory was home to many principalities, including the Pundra, Gangaridai, Gauda, Samatata and Harikela. It was also a Mauryan province under the reign of Ashoka. The principalities were notable for their overseas trade, contacts with the Roman world, export of fine muslin and silk to the Middle East, and spreading of philosophy and art to Southeast Asia. The Pala Empire, the Chandra dynasty, and the Sena dynasty were the last pre-Islamic Bengali middle kingdoms. Islam was introduced during the Pala Empire, through trade with the Abbasid Caliphate,13 but following the early conquest of Bakhtiyar Khalji and the subsequent establishment of the Delhi Sultanate and preaching of Shah Jalal in East Bengal, the faith fully spread across the region. In 1576, the wealthy Bengal Sultanate was absorbed into the Mughal Empire, but its rule was briefly interrupted by the Suri Empire. Following the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in the early 1700s, the proto-industrialised Mughal Bengal became a semi-independent state under the Nawabs of Bengal. The region was later conquered by the British East India Company at the Battle of Plassey in 1757.14 The borders of modern Bangladesh were established with the separation of Bengal and India in August 1947, when the region became East Pakistan as a part of the newly formed State of Pakistan, demarcated by the Boundary of the Partition of India.15 Later the rise of the Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement led to the Liberation War and eventually resulted in the emergence of Bangladesh as a sovereign nation in 1971. The Bengali ethnicity, speakers of the official Bengali language, make up 98% of the population.23 The politically dominant Bengali Muslims make the nation the world's fourth-largest Muslim-majority country. While recognising Islam as the country's established religion, the constitution enshrines secularism and grants freedom of religion to non-Muslims.16 A middle power,17 Bangladesh is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional republic in the Westminster tradition. The country is divided into eight administrative divisions and sixty-four districts. It is one of the emerging and growth-leading economies of the world, one of the Next Eleven countries, with one of the fastest real GDP growth rates in the world. Its gross domestic product ranks 39th largest in terms of market exchange rates, and 29th in purchasing power parity. Its per capita income ranks 143th nominally and 136th by purchasing power parity. In recent years Bangladesh has registered notable success in reducing child mortality, population control, combating natural disasters, women's empowerment, earning foreign exchange through the export of textiles, and using microcredit to alleviate poverty. However, the country continues to face the challenges of the Rohingya genocide and refugee crisis,18 terrorism,19 corruption,20 and the erratic effects of climate change.21 History Early and medieval periods Stone Age tools found in Bangladesh indicate human habitation for over 20,000 years,33 and remnants of Copper Age settlements date back 4,000 years.33 Ancient Bengal was settled by Austroasiatics, Tibeto-Burmans, Dravidians and Indo-Aryans in consecutive waves of migration.3334 Archaeological evidence confirms that by the second millennium BCE, rice-cultivating communities inhabited the region. By the 11th century people lived in systemically-aligned housing, buried their dead, and manufactured copper ornaments and black and red pottery.35 The Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers were natural arteries for communication and transportation,35 and estuaries on the Bay of Bengal permitted maritime trade. The early Iron Age saw the development of metal weaponry, coinage, agriculture and irrigation.35 Major urban settlements formed during the late Iron Age, in the mid-first millennium BCE,36 when the Northern Black Polished Ware culture developed.37 In 1879, Alexander Cunningham identified Mahasthangarh as the capital of the Pundra Kingdom mentioned in the Rigveda.3839 The oldest inscription in Bangladesh was found in Mahasthangarh and dates from the 3rd century BCE. It is written in the Brahmi script.40 Greek and Roman records of the ancient Gangaridai Kingdom, which (according to legend) deterred the invasion of Alexander the Great, are linked to the fort city in Wari-Bateshwar.4142 The site is also identified with the prosperous trading center of Souanagoura listed on Ptolemy's world map.43 Roman geographers noted a large seaport in southeastern Bengal, corresponding to the present-day Chittagong region. Geography The geography of Bangladesh is divided between three regions. Most of the country is dominated by the fertile Ganges-Brahmaputra delta, the largest delta in the world,.[146 The northwest and central parts of the country are formed by the Madhupur and the Barind plateaus. The northeast and southeast are home to evergreen hill ranges. The Ganges delta is formed by the confluence of the Ganges (local name Padma or Pôdda), Brahmaputra (Jamuna or Jomuna), and Meghna rivers and their respective tributaries. The Ganges unites with the Jamuna (main channel of the Brahmaputra) and later joins the Meghna, finally flowing into the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh has 57 trans-boundary rivers, making the resolution of water issues politically complicated, in most cases, as the country is a lower riparian state to India.147 Bangladesh is predominantly rich fertile flat land. Most of it is less than 12 m (39.4 ft) above sea level, and it is estimated that about 10% of its land would be flooded if the sea level were to rise by 1 m (3.28 ft).148 17% of the country is covered by forests and 12% is covered by hill systems. The country's haor wetlands are of significance to global environmental science. In southeastern Bangladesh, experiments have been done since the 1960s to 'build with nature'. Construction of cross dams has induced a natural accretion of silt, creating new land. With Dutch funding, the Bangladeshi government began promoting the development of this new land in the late 1970s. The effort has become a multi-agency endeavour, building roads, culverts, embankments, cyclone shelters, toilets and ponds, as well as distributing land to settlers.149 Years of collaboration with donors and global experts in water resources management has enabled Bangladesh to formulate strategies to combat the impacts of climate change. In Sep 2018, Bangladesh Government approved Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100, a combination of long-term strategies and subsequent interventions for ensuring long term water and food security, economic growth and environmental sustainability.150 The formulation of the plan was led by the General Economics Division of the Ministry of Planning, and supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, bringing together cross-sectoral expertise from the Netherlands and Bangladesh.151 With an elevation of 1,064 m (3,491 ft), Saka Haphong (also known as Mowdok Mual) near the border with Myanmar, is claimed to be the highest peak of Bangladesh.152 However, it is not yet widely recognized as the highest point of the country, and most sources give the honor to Keokradong.